MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners on Tuesday approved the resignation of Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Petrycki, effective Sunday.
“My understanding is he’s found other employment in the private sector for higher pay and something a little more to his liking,” Commissioner Tony Vero said. “He will certainly be missed.”
Petrycki, who retired in June 2021 as the Mansfield Police Department assistant chief, accepted the EMA post in October.
“It’s my understanding he’ll be working three, 12-hour days (a week) with four days off, which is quite a contrast to being 24/7 nonstop,” Commissioner Cliff Mears said.
“That (schedule) was a bit much,” Mears said.
County administrator Andrew Keller said, “Those four days he’ll be able to turn it off.”
The EMA director has handled a variety of emergencies during his 11-month tenure, including a winter storm that dumped a foot of snow in February and a powerful thunderstorm in June that spawned a tornado and created a power outage in most of the county.
That’s in addition to the garden-variety winter and summer storms which Petrycki monitored and kept the public informed about since replacing Rick Evans.
When he was hired, Petrycki was also tasked with “coordinating and collaborating with agencies around the county, region and state to develop and maintain a comprehensive plan to prepare for, respond to, and recover from all natural and man-made emergencies that may impact the county.”
Mears said Petrycki, who was with the MPD for 25 years and also served with the Ohio Army National Guard for five years, faced a difficult task. He was being paid an annual salary of $65,395 in a job that allowed no overtime opportunities.
“Maybe if the environmental weather conditions were not what they turned out to be, it may not have been as overwhelming during that time period,” the commissioner said. “But it was a very demanding job and he had other opportunities.”
Mears said commissioners will examine the job’s responsibilities and perhaps adjust them “to make it a little more palatable to the next applicant.”
Mears said the county had no plans to designate an interim director while the search for a replacement begins, relying instead on mutual aid from adjoining counties.
The last two EMA directors had career experience in either firefighting or law enforcement. Commissioners said those were important characteristics, but not the only considerations in the next hire.
“I think that’s something we’ll be looking at, but I wouldn’t rule somebody out totally (who didn’t have that background),” Commissioner Darrell Banks said.
Mears said he had a resume already from a person without firefighting or law enforcement experience.
“But he’s got a bachelor’s degree in emergency management, which I didn’t know existed,” Mears said. “So that’s good to know.”
